Email this Page

Congress Must Act to Delay Then Repeal the Obamacare Health Insurance Tax

Alexander Hendrie

When it was signed into law, Obamacare imposed nearly one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) in higher taxes on the American people. These taxes directly impact middle class families and businesses and increase the costs of healthcare.

Most of these taxes are already in effect, but one, the tax on health insurance, will go into effect in 2018. Insurers must begin planning for next year months in advance, so if lawmakers fail to act quickly to repeal or delay this tax, the cost of insurance will rise for millions of families and small businesses.

The best solution is passing the American Health Care Act which fully repeals the health insurance tax, together with Obamacare’s other taxes. While lawmakers continue to make progress on passing this legislation, they should act quickly on the health insurance tax given the existing deadlines. Fortunately, they have an opportunity to delay the tax when they consider Fiscal Year 2017 government funding later this month.

Failing to delay or repeal this tax will mean the cost of insurance will continue to skyrocket. Next year alone, the health insurance tax will total $14.3 billion. The costs of the health insurance tax are passed directly to small businesses that provide healthcare to their employees, and middle class families through higher premiums. In addition, the tax impacts the care received by seniors through Medicare advantage coverage and low-income Americans that rely on Medicaid managed care.

According to the American Action Forum, the Obamacare health insurance tax will increase premiums by up to $5,000 over a decade and will directly impact 1.7 million small businesses, 11 million households that purchase through the individual insurance market and 23 million households covered through their jobs.

Obamacare's trillion dollars in new or higher taxes have already hit American families and businesses enough. The last thing taxpayers need is to have yet another tax go into effect. Lawmakers must act swiftly to delay – then repeal the Obamacare health insurance tax.